Cecilia was beginning to feel a little bit exasperated but instead of showing it, she had an idea and decided to join in. After all, there was no point fighting her circumstances; she needed all the help she could get and Kuffi had a wealth of knowledge to share.
“I meant… What a beaut! Woweeee, soooo shiny and all!” Cecilia could see that Kuffi was flattered.
“She sure is,” Kuffi said with a swagger in his step as he polished the handlebars with his furry hand. “Top of the range: Wasp 75, best model to date. Bet you haven’t seen one like this before?”
Cecilia looked at it; the shape of the handlebars and the headlights, made it look a bit like a wasp.
“Erm, no,” said Cecilia, smiling to herself—it wasn’t as if she were lying. If this was top of the range, then imagine what Kuffi would think of the cars, trucks, boats and planes where she came from.
Kuffi flung her a helmet. “Catch!” he shouted. Cecilia laughed as she whipped the helmet out of the air. “Nice one,” remarked Kuffi as Cecilia put her helmet on.
“Be my guest!” Kuffi said as he helped her up onto the Wasp 75. He climbed on in front of her and pulled a cord much like the light switch in her bathroom at home and the Wasp 75’s engine began to gurgle. Kuffi twisted the grips on the handlebars and revved the engine, which let out little bursts of roaring sound. “Hold on tight,” he shouted above the noise and Cecilia grabbed his waist, and with that they zipped off down the line.
It was thrilling riding through the tunnels. Almost immediately the pokiness of the tunnels transformed into lofty caverns in an array of colours and sizes. For a while Cecilia was absorbed in the moment, utterly forgetting the distress of how she had ended up down here in the first place. There was so much to see along the way. There were tunnel dwellers who lived in a kind of collective hive: hollows had been dug into the surface of the walls, one on top of the other, and there were various ladders and pulley systems constructed to help those who didn’t have the gift of flight to get to the higher levels. The dwellers themselves were creatures unlike any Cecilia had ever seen. They were different shapes and species, composite beings of various creatures she recognised from living above ground but human-sized: mice, rabbits, frogs, and there were birds too, lots of birds. All of the dwellers had human attributes, but they didn’t have skin—their arms and legs and torsos were covered in fur and feathers, hair and scales. It was a bit unsettling at first. Cecilia felt the dwellers might be wearing masks or costumes. However, up close you could see that that was how they were made. There were dwellers dotted all about the place, high and low, leaning out of windows and doorways. It was so strange but also strangely familiar. There, underground, these creatures were going about their daily business, chatting, hanging out with one another, playing games and living a seemingly ordinary existence. It was a comfort to see them getting on in such a way and reminded her of back home. But she’d never wanted to sit on the doorstep with Benny Frinks, the boy who lived next door to her, more than she did now. Cecilia saw a pug-face and a sparrow-face playing a game of chess. The sparrow-man was even smoking a pipe, or at least that’s what it looked like—the smoke was pink—but they were speeding by too fast for a second look.
At last Kuffi and Cecilia pulled into a parking lot with loads of other track riders. Kuffi pointed out some of the other models as they looked for a parking spot. From there it didn’t take long to walk to Market Square and by now Cecilia was ravenous.
“Here we are, little thing,” said Kuffi as they passed through an elaborately carved gateway. “Let’s get some grub and you never know—maybe seeing the hustle and bustle of Market Square will jog your memory a little bit too.” He pointed to the square that contained the underground market below them. “Voila!”
“Whoa! Kuffi, it’s MASSIVE!” Cecilia and Kuffi stood at the top of some limestone steps overlooking the market. It was a sight to behold. Hundreds of citizens—dwellers—working at the stalls and carts below them: bellowing, whistling, cooing, grunting, shoving and pushing to get the best deals and peddle their wares.
“Remember this place now? Pretty hard to forget, hey?” Kuffi said hopefully, as if he were trying to convince her.
Cecilia didn’t remember it, of course, because she had never in her life seen anywhere like it before—but she lied because after all what was the point in arguing? Anyway, in such a strange place, it was better to have a friend who could show her the way; she daren’t scare Kuffi off because she liked him. He made her feel safe and she wanted him to like her back so she pretended. It was best for both their sakes.
“Kuffi, there is something coming back to me.” She pointed to the most obvious feature at the end of Market Square: a long platform, lit up with tiny lantern lights above and below. There, in the middle, was a podium and a large banner acting as a backdrop with a handsome golden bird-like man featured on it. Corvus Community–Carpe Noctem was embroidered beautifully underneath him.
“How could I ever forget that guy?” said Cecilia.
Kuffi bowed his head a little. “Yes. You’re quite right, hard to forget him. Jacques d’Or and his community of ever-present guards. Carpe noctem: Seize the night! You’d think that lot had invented the dark, the way they harp on about it.” Kuffi had forgotten himself and became aware that he was in public. “I beg my pardon, what am I saying?” He corrected himself, clearly uncomfortable. Kuffi heaved a
